Heat pump use in northern maine (home, buying, roofing)

[LloydinMaine]

Thanks again for the info. I'm working on getting some estimates now.

[dutchman2]

Just curious, looking at the comments I see lots of pros mentioned and that's great. I have a friend that thinking of putting in a air to air heat pump, of course money is an object. He has a medium size house about 2000 square feet with fair to good insulation. Right now he's heating with fire wood from October to April. He buys it cut split and delivered and spends about $700 a year for the firewood. I know the electricity runs about 14 cents a kilowatt up here. Is he really going to save anything where the wood heat is so cheap? Thoughts?

[atrixwolfe]

No but he will have air condition in the summer! And as he gets older he won't have to deal with the physical efforts of firewood. If 700 gets him through winter. The electric for the heat pump in comparison is more like $900 to $1000 for me and I'm $1400 sq ft. However it all depends on how air tight his place is.

[OutdoorLover]

Not all heat pumps work well in cold weather, but Mitsubishi (Hyperheat) and Fujitsu (Halcyon XLTH) make heat pumps that work well down to -10,-15 degrees. They pair especially well with a well insulated, tight house. It's not the cheapest system in terms of up-front cost, but from what I have seen are the system of choice in new construction in Maine. if your friend also has a wood stove for backup during blackouts or prolonged subzero periods, I think one of these systems could save him a lot of work and also provide cooler, (potentially) drier air in summer. As a pure $$$ saving proposition, if he's using a wood stove now, I don't know, but I wouldn't expect to save much (if any) money. He'd have to recover the capital outlay to put in the heat pump system, and even the operating cost of the heat pump, while pretty good, may not be better than wood.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by dutchman2

Just curious, looking at the comments I see lots of pros mentioned and that's great. I have a friend that thinking of putting in a air to air heat pump, of course money is an object. He has a medium size house about 2000 square feet with fair to good insulation. Right now he's heating with fire wood from October to April. He buys it cut split and delivered and spends about $700 a year for the firewood. I know the electricity runs about 14 cents a kilowatt up here. Is he really going to save anything where the wood heat is so cheap? Thoughts?

I heat about 2400 sq ft using firewood, which costs us around $700/year.

If someone wanted to install a heat-pump, I suggest that you ask to meet a previous customer. Talk to that person to see how it works for them.

I would be concerned about the 2 to 4 weeks where it will be -5F to -20F, and how do you plan to heat during that period each year. I would suggest that you keep the woodstove in place along with 4 or 5 cords of firewood. So when it is -10F and dropping you have another option for heat.

Keep in mind that there may be weeks without grid power and daily temps ranging from highs of -5F to lows of -20F.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The electric utilities want people to return to electric heat in Maine. They subsidize the installation of a heat pump or mini-split at a $555 cost to the homeowner if the assessed value of the house is under $80,000. Your property could be valued at $175,000 and you can qualify if your house is valued by your town at $79,900. This low price is subsidized by various groups, both government and private.

This installation program includes much foaming of air leaks, sealing doors and windows; all for $555.

As we sort through all the claims, it is important to remember that this is electric heat. A decade ago on these pages I often stated that nobody has ever saved money with a heat pump system in Maine. A decade ago that was true. When you can combine an air conditioner and heater in the same unit, consider the annual cost and cost of installation, this is viable (if you can tolerate that monstrosity hanging on the side of your house).

[OutdoorLover]

I have seen the "compressor units" installed also on a metal frame (for some elevation over the snow) that's bolted to a small concrete pad that looked to be set in gravel on a new house in Camden. It was nicer looking and seemed more reliable than hanging them on the side of the house, and should avoid the possibilities for vibrations to be passed into the house from the compressor motor.

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

The electric utilities want people to return to electric heat in Maine. They subsidize the installation of a heat pump or mini-split at a $555 cost to the homeowner if the assessed value of the house is under $80,000. Your property could be valued at $175,000 and you can qualify if your house is valued by your town at $79,900. This low price is subsidized by various groups, both government and private.

This installation program includes much foaming of air leaks, sealing doors and windows; all for $555.

As we sort through all the claims, it is important to remember that this is electric heat. A decade ago on these pages I often stated that nobody has ever saved money with a heat pump system in Maine. A decade ago that was true. When you can combine an air conditioner and heater in the same unit, consider the annual cost and cost of installation, this is viable (if you can tolerate that monstrosity hanging on the side of your house).

Ours is going under our deck. We won't get any discount, and nobody does any foaming.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by AustinB

Ours is going under our deck. We won't get any discount, and nobody does any foaming.

What kind of generator are you thinking of?

[dutchman2]

That's about what I thought, Is there any savings on the AC end? He's already got an AC unit right now, so if the power usage is the same that would be a wash!